According to reviewer Pertti Ahonen (University of Edinburgh), the volume "sets out to provide broad, comparative perspectives on the study of forced migrations in the modern era" ("defined here as the period from roughly the early 19th century onwards"). The editors aim "to bring together . . . instances of forced population movements that have often been treated as distinct entities in the existing literature," as well as "to transcend the categories ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘genocide’ that have dominated much of the relevant historiography."

"This is an ambitious agenda," Ahonen writes, "which the volume pursues through seventeen chapters that cover a wide range of topics, both geographically and temporally, stretching from forced relocations of Native Americans in the early 19th century United States to anti-guerrilla military campaigns in the so-called Third World during the Cold War."

For more on the strengths and limitations of the volume, including commentary on particular contributions, check out the full review (available here).